Farmers in a pickle: How the drought is affecting the short cukes growing season

Drought conditions continue to plague farmers and ranchers in North Carolina. And if you love pickles, you could see a change at the store if the drought persists.

That’s because cucumbers have a short growing season and they are quickly going into the window where they need a lot of moisture to get to the right size.

It’s no secret North Carolina needs rain. Most of the counties in our region are in an extreme or severe drought status, according to the U.S. Drought monitor. The effect of the drought is easy to see by looking at the soil in Franklin County.

Jason Farmer points to a cucumber plant that he thinks should be larger than it is now.

"Each little flower you see is a cucumber see that? And so this is what will grow and expand and fill with water and will make your cucumber," Farmer said.

Farmer knows his stuff. It’s in his name. His priority right now is getting this 40-acre field of cucumbers to harvest and sell to Mt Olive. But this drought is not helping.

"We’ve got 10 mph winds and 95 degree days. It's like your hairdryer that you use to fix your hair in the morning. It's literally pulling out moisture every day," he said.

The cucumbers have to be hand-picked, making this a very labor-intensive crop. And they have to be the right size. Each is graded and that determines the price that Mt. Olive will compensate farmers for their crop. The drought could mean this is a year of smaller pickles, or a smaller harvest altogether.

Cucumbers are not the only row crop the Farmers grow. But they are the priority right now. This farm has been in Farmer's wife, Natalie Wester’s, family for nearly 250 years. Four generations. And this drought is one for the books. It’s affecting how she can feed their cattle.

"They’re usually grazing grass. There is usually an abundance of grass that we’ll cut hay off of, but some of it isn’t there because of the drought," said Wester Farmer.

Franklin County, where the Wester family farm sits, is experiencing extreme drought. Farmer estimates they are 12-to-14 inches below the average rainfall. Their irrigation ponds are getting below comfort level and he said moving water from one pond to another is an investment.

"Everything incurs a cost. It’s difficult. It’s very expensive to move water. And sometimes it not even in the budget to do it," Farmer said.

That cost, plus labor, chemicals and fuel also going up is cutting away at the bottom line.

If the drought persists and the cost of those inputs continues to rise, Famer says it’ll be a question of which crops he’ll keep and which he’ll have to let go.